The idea, presumably, is to try to save the restaurant some money by offsetting merchant service fees with waitstaff subsidization, and the absolute worst part is that owners David Burley and Stephanie Shimp buried the announcement while spuriously congratulating workers on their "well-deserved raise" in a memo. "When this raise shows up in your paycheck," their memo says by way of ironic segue, "we want it to be visible in the warm welcome and bright smile you bring to our guests."

Workers understandably aren't thrilled at the deduction, which is "estimated," no less, at that 2 percent figure. "It's their choice to accept credit cards, and the customers' choice to pay with them, it's not up to me," one explained. Blue Plate's octet of eateries isn't alone, either; Parasole Restaurant Holdings, a popular Twin Cities restaurant group that did $30 million in sales last year, also implemented the practice. After absorbing the 2 percent surcharge, employees will basically be paying 30 cents of that wage increase back to the house, leaving a gain of 45 cents per hour.